This invention relates to power conversion apparatus for a pager. The conversion apparatus enables a battery-powered pager of the type constructed without the capability for recharging the battery, and hence which requires continual battery replacement, to house a battery which is rechargeable without removal from the unit.
Pagers are highly compact, portable radio receivers which signal a user from afar. In a typical instance, a user carries the pager on his clothing, and relies on it to receive paging calls from home or a business office. While some pagers are rechargeable, other models such as the models TP 11 and TP 21 of Bell & Howell Communications Company, are constructed without recharging capability. The latter pagers require that the battery be replaced. In general practice, users lease their pagers from a communications service firm, and this company sends a fresh replacement battery to each user monthly, or on some other regular time schedule. This is costly, both for purchase of replacement batteries, and for packaging and shipping. Further, it is inconvenient for the user to change batteries repeatedly, and the replacement procedure exposes the pager circuits to damage.
Nevertheless, tens of thousands of pagers which require periodic battery replacement are in use. The conversion of these units to rechargeable battery operation would clearly be advantageous, but it has not been done. One difficulty in making such conversion is the unavailability of a conversion assemblage which can be installed within the crowded case of a pager and which also is operationally sound. One operational problem is to ensure that the added charging terminals do not expose the battery to accidental short circuit.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide conversion apparatus for retrofitting a non-rechargeable pager to rechargeable operation. Another object is to provide such conversion apparatus which is sufficiently compact to fit within the original case of the pager.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a conversion kit of the above character which can be installed relatively easily and without highly skilled personnel.
A further object of the invention is to provide a power conversion kit of the above character which does not expose the battery to external short circuit.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.